The NWWaGIS is a group of
individuals who meet every three months to discuss our activities with
Geographical Information Systems and to hear from others working in this field
about their interests, activities and concerns. The group has been meeting on a
fairly regular basis since the late 1990's. The meetings were initiated
by DNR in the Sedro-Woolley regional office where a need was felt to have some
form of interaction with other individuals and agencies who use GIS in our part
of the state. "Our part of the state" generally includes the area from Snohomish
County to the Canadian border, although on occasion we have had participants
from King County, B.C., and elsewhere.

Meeting Schedule and
Location:

We normally meet on
the third Friday in the months of March, June, September and December. On a few
occasions we have moved the meeting up or back a week. The location is variable
depending on the wishes and needs of the person taking responsibility for the
meeting program. Recent meetings have been in Bellingham, Mt. Vernon, Padilla Bay, Everett and
Stanwood. The meetings are scheduled to run from 9 am to noon.

Meeting Format:

Our agenda generally
consists of a roundtable discussion for the first hour, followed by a short break, and then a set of presentations, each taking fifteen to
forty-five minutes. Thus, a typical meeting will have two to four separate
topics. The choice of topics and the length of each offering is up to the person
taking the responsibility for that meeting's agenda. Any topic which relates to
GIS hardware / software / databases / applications / policies... might be
suitable.

For information on hosting or presenting at future meetings, contact Meeting CoordinatorsAnn Stark and Suzanne Shull.

Membership
/ Email List:

Our email list for
sending out meeting notices now contains about 300 names. A typical meeting will
have some twenty to sixty persons attending with a quite diverse membership
coming from many organizations and individuals where GIS is a part of the
operational mix. Included are people from city, county or tribal planning and/or
public works departments, state and federal agencies, private consulting firms
and educational institutions. We come because we are using GIS on a fairly
regular basis, we want to interact with others having similar interests and
responsibilities, and we like sharing with others what we are doing. Being a
"member" of the group means either being on the mailing list or coming to
meetings because you heard about it from someone. There are no dues, no
membership applications and no requirements except interest in GIS and interest
in learning and sharing.

Use of the
NWWaGIS Email List for non-NWWaGIS Events and Announcements

The primary use of the NWWaGIS email list is to send out NWWaGIS meeting
announcements. Occasionally, at the request of a NWWaGIS member, informational
items for upcoming events will also be forwarded. Members who wish to
receive ONLY the NWWaGIS agendas can request this ( email
stefan ).

In general, the following guidelines apply to the types of announcement that
will be forwarded:

- Events held by non-profits organizations (meetings, workshops)

- Free events (open houses, training)

- One-time events (conferences, workshops, trainings)

Excluded from this list are:

- Regular ongoing meetings/events

- Job/resume postings

- Requests for technical help or data

- Sales of products and services

The intention of forwarding selected email notices is to provide a service to
the NWWaGIS members. Please feel free to
comment on this practice and/or make suggestions as to how to further refine
these guidelines. In no case will the actual email address of members be shared
with a third party.

Members
of the NWWaGIS list who wish to receive Agendas ONLY (and not the occasional
other items) should send an email to stefan.

In the past, announcements of GIS-related events, trainings, etc. have been posted to the NWWaGIS Bulletin Board - now no longer being maintained.